There was an article in the Toronto Star last December about an elderly citizen named MaryChristmas. Her first name was Mary and she had married a man whose last name was Christmas. That would get old and annoying really fast.

Atrocity... that is bad. Who would do that? I can only assume the parents didn't know what the word meant.

I think some naming restrictions could be nice. I don't know how it works in Germany, but in Norway a name can be rejected by the authorities if it will be an inconvenience for the child, and surnames are generally not allowed unless they have a history as a given name.

I think some naming restrictions could be nice. I don't know how it works in Germany, but in Norway a name can be rejected by the authorities if it will be an inconvenience for the child, and surnames are generally not allowed unless they have a history as a given name.

Here in Portugal there's a list of approved and forbidden names, including by gender (there are no unisex names). It's good to prevent situations like the ones shown on this article, but sometimes it is too restrictive - for example, Sophia is forbidden (only Sofia is allowed); Juno, Mel and Ariel can only be used for boys, etc. - and in a few cases is the opposite... If the name you want is not on the list, you have to ask (and pay) for that name to be evaluated...

There was a girl at my university named "Shitonya." I also knew of a girl named "Shitrea" and one named "Passion." I honestly think the first two girls' mothers weren't thinking of how the names looked, just about how they sounded. At least, I hope so. If it was on purpose...yikes. "Passion" reminds me of a character from a good old-fashioned bodice-ripper from the 80s, you know, one with Fabio on the cover with some tarted up captive princess or something.